Kamala Harris ridiculed after saying hope should be “a verb” in viral interview

Former U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris is facing a wave of mockery after a Friday podcast interview with Don Lemon produced a convoluted answer about the meaning of “hope” in a tense political moment. In the clip, which spread quickly online, Harris tried to frame hope as something rooted in an “inner light,” but many viewers described her response as confusing and heavy on empty language.

Harris said, “I truly believe that each of us has an inner light. We need to know that this is what inspires our hope, no less than anything external.” She then urged Americans not to let political events “dim that light,” and concluded, “It is especially important right now that we not only have hope, but that we understand that hope needs to be a verb.”

Social media users on X immediately seized on the phrasing. One mocked it as a “word salad” that could be summed up in two words, “be positive.” Others pointed out that “hope” is already both a noun and a verb, joking that they hoped Harris would never run for office again.

The interview also touched on Harris’s political future. Asked whether she plans to run for president again in 2028, she replied, “I have not decided, to be honest with you,” leaving the door open. She added that voters want a leader willing to “take risks,” not just follow popularity, and one who “looks at people and not at himself in the mirror.”